Voracek lifts Flyers past Devils with late goal

PHILADELPHIA --Jakub Voracek scored the tiebreaking goal with 3:10 remaining, and the Philadelphia Flyers defeated the New Jersey Devils 5-2 at Wells Fargo Center on Saturday.

Voracek gave the Flyers a 3-2 lead when he took a pass from Ivan Provorov to start a 2-on-1 with linemate Scott Laughton, held onto it, deked goalie Keith Kinkaid out of position, and scored his third of the season.
"I was thinking pass it all the way and their defenseman] played tight to [Laughton]," Voracek said. "When I decided to shoot it, I was too close, so I had to do something and it worked."
***[WATCH: [All Devils vs. Flyers highlights]*
Travis Konecny, Nolan Patrick, Wayne Simmonds and Laughton scored for the Flyers (4-4-0). Brian Elliott made 19 saves.
Damon Severson and Brian Boyle scored power-play goals for the Devils (4-2-0), who lost their second straight game after winning their first four. Kinkaid made 16 saves.
Voracek was shifted off the top line with Claude Giroux and Sean Couturier, instead skating at right wing with Laughton and center Nolan Patrick. The result was Voracek's first points in four games, including two assists.
"With his dynamics, he can change the look of a hockey game," Philadelphia coach Dave Hakstol said. "He made a heck of a play on [Patrick's] goal with his speed coming down the wing. And the third goal, a lot of that was him."
Severson's goal gave the Devils a 1-0 lead at 4:07 of the first. Konecny tied it 1-1 with a power-play goal at 10:41.

Patrick gave the Flyers a 2-1 lead with 1:04 remaining in the second period. Voracek grabbed a loose puck at center, cut wide around Devils defenseman Will Butcher, entered the zone, and centered the puck to Patrick.
"He's one of the only guys that can make plays like that," Patrick said. "When you play with him, you've got to go to the net, put your stick on the ice and he'll find you."
Boyle scored 2:25 into the third period to tie it 2-2. The goal was upheld after a coach's challenge for goaltender interference.
"The way we need to play is a relentless game," Boyle said. "We need to be the hardest working team on the ice every night to give ourselves the best chance. It's got to be our bread and butter. You've got to be emotionally invested too. You can't be casual."
Philadelphia changed their top two defense pairs and allowed its fewest shot on goal this season (21). Provorov skated with Robert Hagg; his usual partner, Shayne Gostisbehere, was with Christian Folin. The Flyers had been allowing 31.1 shots per game.
"We needed to change something after a game like last game against [the Columbus Blue Jackets] (a 6-3 loss on Thursday), and I guess it was a good change if we won," said Provorov, who had two assists and was plus-2.

Simmonds scored an empty-net goal with 1:05 remaining to make it 4-2, and Laughton scored into an empty net with 24 seconds remaining to make it 5-2.

They said it

"Today wasn't going to be one of those days that would be a possession game. It was going to be more of a north-south, chip to an area (game), but we were a little stubborn in it and we couldn't create much off of that." -- Devils captain Andy Greene

"I think our team has a good mindset on taking the positives from even the bad games and moving on, and I think that's what we did yesterday and today, and right now we're just going to try to build on this game and put a streak together."-- Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov

Need to know

Devils defenseman Steven Santini sustained a broken jaw when he was hit in the face by a puck with 12:18 remaining in the first period. ... New Jersey forward Kyle Palmieri did not have a point for the first time this season, ending his streak at five games (seven goals, one assist). ... Taylor Hall had an assist on Boyle's goal to give him eight points (one goal, seven assists) during a five-game point streak. ... The Devils have scored a power-play goal in all six games. ... Patrick returned to the lineup after missing three with an upper-body injury. ... Voracek's two assists gave him 311 and moved him past John LeClair (310) for 12th on the Flyers' list. ... Giroux played his 746th game, tying him with Joe Watson for fifth with the Flyers. ... Philadelphia won 44 of 60 face-offs. New Jersey was without center Travis Zajac, because of a lower-body injury. Zajac won 62.8 percent of his face-offs, which was fourth in the League among players with at least 80 taken. ... New Jersey defenseman Ben Lovejoy was scratched because of a lower-body injury.

What's next

Devils: Host the Nashville Predators on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; MSG+, FS-TN, NHL.TV)
Flyers: Host the Colorado Avalanche on Monday (7 p.m. ET; SN, TVAS, NBCSP, ALT, NHL.TV)